Man Accused Of Supplying Heroin In Overdose Death

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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal criminal complaint has been filed against a Vancouver, Wash., man accused of dealing the heroin that led to the death of a suburban Portland woman.

Washington County jail records show 35-year-old Raul Ramirez was booked into jail Dec. 20 on a parole violation. He now has a federal hold on him, resulting from the complaint accusing him of heroin distribution.

Accusations of his dealing are tied to last week’s heroin overdose death of Michelle Lee Conklin, a 43-year-old Tigard woman. Conklin was found unconscious by her husband, Bryan, just before midnight on Dec. 17 and she was declared dead 15 minutes later.

Conklin’s husband told Beaverton police Det. Charles Wujcik, a member of Washington County’s Westside Interagency Narcotics Team, that he and his wife used heroin and methadone for two decades, according to court papers filed Tuesday by an FBI special agent in support of Ramirez’s arrest.

On Dec. 17, he bought a half gram from a dealer named “Kevin.” Conklin told the detective he injected himself with 70 percent of the heroin and gave a smaller amount to his wife because she had been clean in recent months and a large amount could be dangerous. He told the detective they injected the drug together and he awoke to find his wife face down in a hallway.

Police found Kevin, who admitted selling Conklin half a gram of heroin for $50, according to the court documents. In turn, he identified his supplier as Ramirez, a man who poses as a woman, drives a white Cadillac without license plates and also goes by the name “Vicky.”

Ramirez was arrested after police told Kevin to buy $600 worth of heroin as they watched. Ramirez confessed to Wujcik that he sells heroin, including half an ounce per day to Kevin, the documents state.

Ramirez has yet to be arraigned. No defense lawyer is listed in court documents and it could not be determined Wednesday if he has one.

Detectives said Ramirez is the focus of several heroin investigations in the Portland metro area, including one that involves another overdose death.